Elizabeth Noelle—Neumann’s Spiral of Silence theory analyses and demonstrates how interpersonal communication and media operate together in the development of public opinion. Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann is a German political scientist. Through this Spiral of Silence theory Neumann indirectly explains the Jews status during World War II under Nazi’s control. Adolf Hitler dominated the whole society and the minority Jews became silent due to the fear of isolation or separation. This theory states that in elections certain views seem to get more play than others. Sometimes people mute their opinions rather than talk about them. It occurs when individuals express when they perceive that their opinion is popular and those who think otherwise remain quiet. This process occurs in a spiral, so that one side of an issue ends up with much publicity and the other side with little. This expression/non-expression rests on two premises. The first is that people know which Continue reading
Communication Principles
Communication in Organizations – Meaning, Importance, and Types
Communication is the process of passing information from one person to another with the intention of creating a shared comprehension. Organizational communication on the other hand is the conveyance of information within an organizational setting. Communication is essential in every organization because it entails information that plays an important role in effective performance. Every organization has set a number of objectives in order to be competitive in the ever changing world. In order to achieve the set objectives and to gain comparative advantage, organizations should invest in proper communication procedures and channels. Importance of Organizational Communication Communication is one of the crucial components in every organization and its efficacy is the secret in realizing overall organizational success. Communication can only be considered efficient when the receiver of the information understands the subject and the meaning of the message conveyed. The function helps employees and management to interact with each other in Continue reading
Cultural Influence on Communication Processes
A country may be classified as either a high-context culture or a low-context Culture. The context of a culture is either high or low in terms of in-depth background information. This classification provides an understanding of various cultural orientations and explains how Process of communication is conveyed and perceived. North America and northern Europe (e.g. Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries) are examples of low-context cultures. In these types of society, messages are explicit and clear in the sense that actual words are used to convey the main part of information in communication. The words and their meanings, being independent entities, can be separated from the context in which they occur. What are important, then, are what is said, not how it is said and not the environment within which it is said. Japan, France, Spain, Italy, Asia, Africa and the Middle Eastern Arab nations in contrast, are high-context culture. In Continue reading
Normative Theories of Mass Media
Normative theories are theories that seek to locate media structure and performance in the milieu (environment) in which they operate, they are observation of situation within which the press operate. The basic assumption of the normative theory is that, “the press always take on the form and coloration of the social and political structure within which it operate” (Siebert, Peterson and Schramm, 1995). They are theories that explain the expected operation of media under political and economical circumstance The origin of normative theories of the press seen from two opposing view points, (1.) Radical libertarian (first amendment absolutist) and technocratic control, the first amendment absolutist takes the idea of “ free press” as literal and oppose government regulation while the technocrats do not trust the media and believes in use of regulators to act in the public interest, and (2.) Propaganda and mass society theories are used to justify media Continue reading
Principles of Effective Communication
Communication is the process of transmitting the messages and receiving the response of that message. The person who sends the messages is known as sender and the person who receives the message is known as receiver and the response to the message is known as feed back. Since the feedback requires another message to be communicated by the sender to the receiver. So communication process become a circular process. In simple words, exchange of ideas/messages, response there off in total is known as communication. Any method of communication like words–oral or written, pictures, graphs, diagrams, etc. may be adopted to communicate. Effective communication is that communication in which the receiver is understood actually what the sender wants to convey, and in the same form. ‘Noise’ is something, which has disturbed the effective sending and receiving of communication. Here are the principles of effective communication in business; Principle of clarity: the Continue reading
External Communication in Business
Communication with people outside the company is called “external communication”. Supervisors communicate with sources outside the organization, such as vendors and customers. External communication comprehends all information developed by the company, which is related to its activity that is released in the press, for public knowledge. Such information is crucial in order to promote the company’s image. When it comes to business communication, or for that matter, any aspect, the most important thing is the customer. We need to ensure that we deliver what the customer wants. Even when it comes to things like marketing or advertising, we need to show what the customer appreciates and likes. Different customers accept different kinds of marketing. It all depends on us to ensure that via business communication, we are able to cater to the choices of a wide range of people. If we are able to master the art of impressing many Continue reading